Headlines

Australian tax authorities on Thursday published the records of hundreds of companies, including Google and Apple, which show that they paid little or no tax on their earnings in the country, the International New York Times reported. Of more than 1,500 largely foreign-owned companies that reported total earnings over 100 million Australian dollars ($72.11 million) in the 2014 financial year, more than one-third paid no tax, the Australian Taxation Office data showed.

Argentina’s peso lost more than a quarter of its value against the U.S. dollar Thursday, a day after the new government of President Mauricio Macri said it would lift currency controls to attract investors and kick-start the economy, The Wall Street Journal reported. Within minutes of trading, the peso weakened to 13.9 per dollar from 9.8 the previous day, its biggest percentage decline since January 2002, following the abandonment of the peso-dollar parity.

European anti-fraud investigators said on Wednesday that they were looking into whether Volkswagen misused hundreds of millions of dollars in low-interest loans — threatening a significant source of funding for the crisis-struck automaker, the International New York Times reported.

Ukraine’s leaders pledged to put aside their differences and take measures to unlock loans from the International Monetary Fund, after weeks of squabbling strained the pro-Western coalition and delayed the latest bailout tranche, The Wall Street Journal reported. The statement, signed by the president, prime minister and chairman of parliament and released late Tuesday, tried to draw a line under infighting in the coalition.

Rolls-Royce, the British engineering group, announced a major management restructuring on Wednesday that the company said was aimed at simplifying a byzantine hierarchy and lowering operating costs after a string of profit warnings, the International New York Times reported. The group presented the changes as part of a broader plan to eliminate as much as 200 million pounds, or over $300 million, in annual operating costs.

Argentina’s new government on Wednesday lifted currency controls, allowing its citizens to buy dollars freely for the first time in four years and setting the stage for a sharp depreciation of the peso, The Wall Street Journal reported. The move, which officials hope will kick-start the faltering economy, is the strongest President Mauricio Macri has yet made in his bid to roll back the government interference that marked the country’s economy under the previous presidencies of Néstor and Cristina Kirchner.

Fitch Ratings cut Brazil’s sovereign-credit rating to junk status on Wednesday, citing the country’s ballooning budget deficit, political turmoil and a deeper-than-expected recession, The Wall Street Journal reported. The decision deals a fresh blow to President Dilma Rousseff as she struggles to revive the economy and avoid impeachment. Fitch becomes the second major credit-rating firm to downgrade Brazil to junk, a move that could trigger a selloff of Brazilian financial assets and make it more expensive for the government to borrow.

Nama expects to report a profit of well in excess of €1 billion this year, its chairman Frank Daly has told an Oireacthas Committee. Nama reported a profit of €473 million in the first half of the year and expects to more than match this in the second half, the Irish Times reported. Nama now predicts that it will generate a surplus of €2 billion by the time it completes its work. The organisation took on loans from the banks at a written down value, and the latest predictions means that the final value of the loans will be some €2 billion more than expected at that time.

The Hong Kong-based civic group China Labour Bulletin says strikes and labor protests nationwide nearly doubled in the first 11 months of 2015 to 2,354 from 1,207 in the same 2014 period. China’s labor ministry says 1.56 million labor-dispute cases were accepted for arbitration and mediation in 2014, up from 1.5 million in 2013, The Wall Street Journal reported. Behind the strife is an economy decelerating faster than the government expected, sparking layoffs and factory closings.

Creditor banks in Abengoa are piling up pressure on the Spanish energy and engineering firm to find alternative emergency financing and avoid becoming Spain's largest-ever bankruptcy, sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a meeting held on Monday between Abengoa and the lenders to agree on emergency financing did not reach any conclusion and that the banks would now discuss with investment funds a potential cash injection in the company.